Body By Glamour: 10 Quick and Easy Ways to Lose 10 Pounds

Body By Glamour: 10 Quick and Easy Ways to Lose 10 Pounds

One reason our Body by Glamour plans have been so successful? They work in the real world. Every tip here helps you fit healthier eating and workouts into your normal, busy life, and that’s why they’re our weight-loss winners’ favorites. Try them and you’ll see: Small changes have a big impact.

No. 1 Fill Half Your Plate With Veggies

At every meal, vegetables or fruit should take up half of your plate, a lean protein should take up a quarter, and a starch like brown rice the other fourth. It’s built-in portion and calorie control. “This advice helped me lose weight without feeling like I was even trying,” says Lee Karraker, 24, of Chicago, who lost 10 pounds with Body by Glamour. “I also started using smaller plates. It hadn’t occurred to me how huge my dishes were, which only tempted me to fill them up when I really didn’t need all that food.”

No. 2 Rethink What You Drink

When it comes to weight loss, what you drink may actually be more important than what you eat. A recent study from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that cutting back on sugary drinks helped participants lose more weight than those who only cut back on food. Switching from sugary cola to seltzer with lemon helped Ena Gordon, 37, of Massapequa, New York, lose some of the 50 pounds she dropped doing Body by Glamour. “I would drink about eight sodas a day—starting at breakfast. It was soda-palooza!” she says. “As soon as I gave them up, the weight started falling off. And I stopped craving other sugary foods, like cookies and candy.”

No. 3 Do a Short Interval Workout Instead of a Long Cardio Slog

Research shows that interval training—in which you alternate bursts of fast, intense activity with slower, more moderate movement—burns more calories and fat than traditional cardio. Glamour editor Sunny Sea Gold, who lost 20 pounds with Body by Glamour, dropped four pounds in a week when she added intervals to her workouts. Hollywood trainer Gunnar Peterson explains why: “Intervals can change your body in ways that would take much longer to accomplish with regular cardio.”

No. 4 Hold the Mayo

Skipping add-ons like creamy sauces and cheese slashes calories. Nix two tablespoons of mayo and a couple slices of cheese from a sandwich and you’ll save more than 300 calories at one meal.

No. 5 Take Two Minutes in the Morning to Plan Your Meals

“This was the most important change I made,” says Jennifer LaFever, 27, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, who lost 23 pounds.

No. 6 Grab 10-Pound Weights Instead of Five-Pounders

The fact is, the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn all day long, even while you’re sitting on the couch. The best way to build it, says celebrity trainer Teddy Bass, is by adding slightly heavier weights to your normal workout. “I always worried that weights would make me bulk up and get ‘is she wearing shoulder pads?’ huge, but the Body by Glamour trainer assured us that wouldn’t happen,” says Katie Forristall-Hermann, 26, of Chicago, who toned up and lost six pounds. “I still remember reading, ‘If you can carry grocery bags, you can lift more than five-pound weights!’” (For free MP3 workouts from Bass, go to glamour.com/bbg.)

No. 7 Eat a Fiber-Rich Breakfast

People who eat breakfast tend to lose more weight while dieting than those who don’t, studies show. What’s even better is aiming to get at least eight grams of fiber at your morning meal—say, from a cereal like SmartBran by Nature’s Path, says Rachel Beller, R.D., founder of the Beller Nutritional Institute in Beverly Hills. (One on-the-go option: the spinach, egg white and feta wrap from Starbucks.) Doing this made an immediate difference for Jennifer Kurtley, 26, of Los Angeles, who lost 25 pounds on Body by Glamour (and had to have her wedding dress taken down two sizes!). “I was never a breakfast eater, and I didn’t believe that making such a small change could help me lose, rather than gain,” she says. “Before, I’d wind up bingeing on whatever junk was at the office by 10:00 A.M. Now I can easily make it to lunch.” For mornings at home, try the banana pancakes recipe at glamour.com/bbg that readers loved: “I made them four times a week for months!” says Christine Meshanko, 41, from Bexley, Ohio, who lost 10 pounds when she did the Body by Glamour program.

No. 8 Learn These Portion Shortcuts

“I love pasta,” says Ena Gordon. “But when I started the plan and found out what an actual serving should be, I realized I was easily eating three times that amount.” There’s no need to break out the measuring cup if you use these visual cues:

A serving of carbs like whole wheat pasta or brown rice should be about the size of your fist.

Lean meat, fish or tofu should be about the size of an iPhone.

A tablespoon of a condiment like peanut butter should be no bigger than a Ping-Pong ball.

Yum, crunchy!

Yum, creamy!

Yum, cheesy!

1 ounce of part-skim mozzarella melted on a half of a toasted English muffin

Yum, salty!

A handful of pretzel twists or sticks dipped in Dijon-style or honey mustard

No. 10 Give Yourself a Quick Pat on the Back Every Day

It’s a small mental shift that helped one Body by Glamour user lose an incredible 80 pounds: Rachel Elizabeth Eades, 23, of Ottawa, Ontario, made one small eating or exercise change at a time, waited until it became a habit, then made another. “First I started walking the stairs instead of taking the elevator in my apartment building,” she says. “Then I started drinking water instead of pop. Next I started going to the gym to do a strength workout once a week. Taking baby steps helped me eventually reach what could have otherwise been a very overwhelming goal.” Forristall-Hermann used this little motivational tool, too. “As I got in shape, I really paid attention to, and relished, all the little changes,” she says. “I’d try to notice how much more energy I had, or think about how I could do 20 regular push-ups when I couldn’t even do one before. On days when I was tired or discouraged, remembering how far I’d come kept me going.”